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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
The UFC's welterweight division is stuck in a logjam at the top, with a Champion and Interim Champion set for a bout this November to unify the titles. That has left numerous fighters working their way into title contention, but having to choose between waiting for a shot or risking it by taking more fights until the division clears up.
UFC on Fox 3 winner Johny Hendricks has expressed his willingness to wait out a title fight, but one top contender has no desire to sit around. Jake Ellenberger, who will take on Martin Kampmann on Friday night at The Ultimate Fighter Finale on FX, is looking to stay busy if he notches his seventh straight UFC win.
"There are a lot of unsures right now," Ellenberger said in an interview with MMAjunkie.com. "I'm just real focused on Martin Kampmann on Friday night, and I haven't looked past that at all. There's a lot of speculation and stuff, but at the end of the day, you have to do your job, and that's win."
"It'd be a long wait [if I'm promised a title shot]. I've not been one who likes to wait, especially when I'm doing well... Me, I keep moving forward. I don't want to sit out. My goal, the whole reason I'm in this sport, is to be a world champ. Getting to that (title) fight is ideal, but at the same time, I don't want to sit out six months or even a year."
It would be at least that long, and with Hendricks right there with him, he may not be at the front of the line. Still, he must get past Kampmann on Friday night before the conversation can be had, and he'll then have to figure out just where he's at in the division from there.
Penick's Analysis: With the Carlos Condit-Georges St-Pierre fight not happening until November, it would make sense for the winner of Friday's fight to face off against Hendricks. The winner of that fight would then be a very deserving challenger in the division. That fight could even take place on that same card in November, setting up the same timetable for the winner and whomever emerges the undisputed Champion. Whether the UFC goes that route or not, it would certainly be a sensible way to clear things at the top heading into 2013.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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